Twelve Days till Christmas
by IcyKeys-Love
Summary: I finally got around to doing Twelve days till Christmas! (As opposed to my 'Three days till Christmas'). Lucy and Gray are back for the third year, and as they remember past Christmases together, enjoy the present, and imagine the future Holidays, they'll have as much fun as possible! Happy Holidays, everyone! (Graylu, hinted Nali and Gale, Rated T for language, but it's not bad.)
1. Lovable idiots and Christmas

Mizu-chan- Hi guys! So, this year, I finally got around to doing a twelve chapter story for the Christmas Countdown! (I was too busy the previous years.) So, I'll be (trying) to post a chapter every day until Christmas, and I'm sorry in advance if I don't get around to it once or twice. I'll still post 'em of course, just... maybe a bit late. But anyways, Happy/Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and- well, Happy Holidays, everyone! I love you all! :)

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><p>Lucy woke up to an arm suffocating her. She moved it off of her face and sighed. She turned her head to look at Gray, who was laying in a splayed position with the blankets half off. She scoffed. That usually happened when the heat was on. He couldn't stand the heat. She leaned over and gently pinched his nose.<p>

He groaned and opened his dark eyes to gaze at Lucy. He grinned and smacked her hand away. Lucy giggled. "Sorry, you looked really silly. Besides," she glanced at the clock, which read 11:30. "We overslept. It's really late."

Gray rolled his eyes and pulled her closer to him. "Ah, it's not like we have a job or anything. We can't be late going to the guild. I mean, what time does Natsu usually get there? One? Two?" He joked. Lucy laughed. "I think he wakes up at that time! Unless we all have a job, then he wakes us up at like, five in the morning." She blushed in embarassment as she remembered a particularly cringe worthy moment in which Natsu had burst in on them, talking about a job and- yeah, never mind, she didn't want to remember that.

Lucy focused on Gray again, and noticed that his eyes had closed again. Of course he'd be tired. He'd come back to the house much, much later than Lucy had, and Lucy had been asleep by the time he'd made it back. What he'd been doing there, Lucy could only guess. She had an idea that it had something to do with Natsu and a fight. She eyed Gray closer and saw a bruise on his jaw, so that must have been it.

She nudged him. "Gray... Gray we have to get up now, or your not going to get to sleep at a decent time tonight." He buried his face in the crook of her neck and muttered something about not caring. Lucy blushed lightly and kissed his forehead. To be honest, she was pretty tired too. She'd been up until ten, working on her novel. It was pretty damn long by this time, but hey, all good things take time. Unless of course it was a bowl of good ice cream. That didn't take much time, and it was still great.

Lucy sat up and rubbed her still blurry eyes. She kicked the covers off-she wasn't the only one who was hot-and swung her long legs over the side of the bed, untangling herself from Gray's arms as she did so. Gray yawned as Lucy stretched and went about the room, searching for a suitable outfit for the day.

"Come back here, Luce..." Gray murmured sleepily. He shoved his face into the pillow and Lucy giggled again. She shook her head.

"Gray, come on, we have to get up now." She said, looking at the calender. She blinked. "Oh, that's right! We have to help out at the guild today! I forgot!" She yelped. Gray looked up from the bed.

"Why?"

"We have to help set up the guild hall for the Christmas party." She said, now rushing. She pulled out a skirt and a blouse, getting into them at breakneck speed. Gray watched, wide eyed. How the hell did girls get dressed so damn fast? He sighed and sat up. Lucy was leaving the room, but she saw him get up. She ran to the bathroom to brush her teeth and do her hair.

She raked a brush through her long hair, making sure all the tangles were out before tying it up in a side ponytail. She hadn't done that hairstyle in a while, she usually went for pigtails now, but she decided it would look good with the outfit. She brushed her teeth and washed her face, checked to make sure that there wasn't a hugely noticable stray hair or something, and left the bathroom.

Gray was already at the door, lacing up his boots. He was dressed in his normal attire, his loose pants and his button down shirt. Lucy stared at him as he straightened up. He looked back at her, confused at her exasperated expression.

"What?"

"You're not even going to wash your face? Or brush your hair?"

"I never brush my hair!"

"What about your face?"

"As long as you didn't draw on it in the middle of the night, I'm fine."

Lucy huffed and grabbed her coat. She put it on as she opened the door. "Come on, slouch."

"I am not a slouch, take that back!"

"Idler."

"You-"

"Sloth."

Lucy cried out in shock as a snowball hit the back of her neck and trickled down her spine. She shivered and turned around to scold Gray, before getting another snowball to the face. She went sprawling backwards into a pile of the white, fluffy snow, freezing the backs of her legs. She jumped up and brushed the stuff off of her, before scooping up a handful and hurling it at Gray with all her strength. He dodged the first attack easily, laughing, but he was pasted in the mouth with a second one. He wiped the snow off just in time to see Lucy running down the road, shouting playful insults.

Lucy arrived at the doors of the guild, panting, and dashed inside to hide from her boyfriend. She had not made it three steps when the doors burst open yet again and she was attacked from behind. The two of them fell to the ground, and Gray pressed an icy hand to the back of her neck, earning a shriek of surprise from the girl.

After a second, Gray got off of her and held out his hand. She took it and he helped her to her feet.

"Truce?" Lucy tried cautiously. Gray laughed and nodded.

"Truce." He answered. He ruffled her hair and she smiled.

"If you two are just going to act like a couple of lovesick clowns, why don't you just go home and mess around where no one can see you?" A teasing voice from behind said. Lucy growled and turned around to slap Natsu upside the head.

"Like you're any different with Lisanna!" She retorted with an evil glint in her eye. Natsu's cheeks went ever so slightly darker, but he brushed off her comment with the most epic eyeroll the world had ever seen.

"Yeah, whatever, get a room." He crowed. This got him another slap.

"I doubt you even know what that means, you dense Flame Brain." Gray snickered. Lucy knew that he was probably right, given the fact that Natsu was the most naive of any of them, besides perhaps Wendy.

"Shut up, Ice Pervert!"

"You wanna go, Porcupine Head!?"

The sounds of a new brawl starting up filled the guild hall and Lucy slumped, groaning, into a seat next to Levy, who laughed.

"Sick of 'em yet?" She joked. Lucy shook her head and gave her a grin.

"Never. It would get boring without them. What about you? Doesn't Gajeel piss you off sometimes?" She asked, poking her bookworm friend in the cheek. Levy looked towards the fight, which Gajeel had joined in on.

"Well, considering he's a block headed fool, yes. But he's a... a lovable idiot." She said, after searching for the proper phrase to descibe him. Lucy nodded.

"A lovable idiot, huh?" She murmured, half to herself, as she let her gaze drift to her raven haired partner. She smiled. "Yeah, I guess we're in the same boat."

"Well, at least it's not a sinking ship." Levy replied, going back to the book she had in her hands. "By the way, got any new chapters for me to read?" She asked without even looking up. Lucy laughed and nodded again.

"Yeah, yeah, just wait. Christmas is only in a few days." Lucy closed her eyes and blocked out the sounds of fighting. She knew that she had to get to work in a few minutes, but she could enjoy the moment for a little while, right?

She breathed out slowly. Christmas was just around the corner. She smiled happily. She was sure that this Christmas was going to be amazing. As long as she had her friends (and her lovable idiot,) by her side, Lucy knew that she could have fun in any place.

Lucy was alerted to the fact that something was wrong by the shrill scream of "Lu-chaaan!" from beside her. She opened her eyes and just barely had time to protect her face from the oncoming chair. It hit her hands and knocked her backwards in Levy.

Her eye twitched and she stood up abruptly. The whole room, which had been full of the sounds of bickering, fighting, and laughing, went silent as Lucy's dark aura reached everyone. She looked up, glaring furiously at the three young men, who were now frozen to the floor, it seemed.

"Who threw that...?" Lucy growled. They tensed and looked at each other helplessly as Lucy advanced.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't really starting off in what _normal _people thought was good, but Lucy was okay with it.

As long as she got her revenge, she was okay.


	2. Feather quill

Mizu-chan- Sorry, this is short. I know it's only a morning, just a part of a day, but I wanted to just make little parts of the days, and not make them too long. Anyways, here's the second chapter! Hope you like it.

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><p>Gray stretched and looked down at Lucy, who was still fast asleep next to him. He smiled and ruffled her hair. She stirred and murmured something in her sleep, but she didn't wake up. After watching her for a moment or two, he carefully got out of the bed and left the room.<p>

He wanted to get her something for Christmas. She had told him not to, or, that he didn't have to, but he still wanted to do it. Not anything huge, but something she'd like. Not a piece of jewelry, she had enough jewelry to fill a boat. Well, not really, but she herself had said that she was going to give some away.

Maybe... maybe something that was related to her book? The one she was writing? Or maybe something that could help her out.

It clicked. He pounded his fist in his hand and and grinned. That was it! He knew what to get her! There can been a fancy quill and ink set at the magic store in town. The ink was waterproof, and the pen had magic that could (supposedly) keep writers block at bay. It was perfect for her.

He got dressed, brushed his teeth, and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. He scribbled her a note, telling her that he was going to be out today, and went back to the room with it. He left it on her bedside table and leaned down. He kissed her cheek, smoothed back her hair, and left the room once again. He went to the door, left the house, and closed it as quietly as he could behind him.

He knew that Lucy would be tired. Between helping clean the guild hall along with the others, breaking up fights, more cleaning and organizing, and more mediating, Gray wouldn't be surprised if she slept later than they had the previous morning. But it didn't matter, seeing as he wanted to get her a gift and he wanted it to be a secret.

He shuffled through the snow, head raised to look at the cloudy gray sky. He loved days like this. When the clouds were light enough to allow the sun through a little bit, but not so much to melt the snow or hurt your eyes by reflecting off the white blanket on the ground. It was crisp and cold, and steam curled from his mouth like smoke. He watched it dissipate into the air as he made his way downtown.

The snow was less thick here, where the people of Magnolia had trampled it down to make paths. He greeted people as he passed them, and along the way to the store he looked around. Most people had their homes decorated. Light lacryma had been attached to wires that had magic running through them, and these had been strung up on the edges of peoples doors, on the roofs, on the bushes outside the houses, you name it. A lot of people had their trees set up, and they were glowing festivly inside the houses, most of them placed near windows where they'd be viewable from the street.

Gray smiled. Christmas was certainly a great time of year. Well, when you're part of Fairy Tail, it's usually great all year long, but for Gray, Christmas was special. I mean, how could it not be? He and Lucy had become boyfriend and girlfriend two years ago on Christmas, and even if they'd had a few small problems, they were mostly solved within a few minutes and everything would return to normal. They were perfect for each other, no would could deny that, not even Juvia had, before she'd gotten over the fact that the Celestial Spirit mage and the Ice mage were together.

So yeah, Christmas was a special time of year for him.

He stopped short as he realized that he'd nearly walked past the store he'd meant to go to. He walked up to the lightly decorated door and opened it, making the bell jingle happily. He entered the shop and gazed around at everything. There were tons of different things in here. Little magic squares that changed the color of your clothes depending on your mood, mobiles that worked without strings, chocolates that would change the color of your skin (he'd left a box of those near Natsu as a prank once), all kinds of things. But right now, he wasn't looking for miscellanious trinkets.

He walked over to a shelf that carried writing supplies and picked up the package he wanted. It was a bow with a clear front, showing off a white, fluffy feather quill with an intricately etched, metal tip. A pot of dark scarlet ink was sitting next to it. He flipped over the package to read the magical qualities on the back. He was right. The waterproof ink was also impossible to smudge, and the quill prevented writers block. The set also included a magic eraser that could erase the ink. Gray checked the price. It wasn't too expensive, only about 1,000 Jewel.*

He took the money he had out of his pocket - he'd grabbed it on the way out - and made his way to the cash register. He handed the money over and asked for the package to be gift wrapped. He took the package in hand and left the shop, smiling. He knew that Lucy would like it. How could she not? It was right up her alley.

He sighed. He looked down at his feet, drifting off into his thoughts. His mind kept drifting back to past Christmases he'd had. The first Christmas he could remember was when he was six years old, and his parents got him a coloring book. He had never used it, but he still remembered it. Money had been extremely tight that year, as it had been for quite a while, and everyone in his family, him, his mother and his father, they each got only one gift. He was okay with that though, especially after he'd lost them. He realized that there was really no point in getting more gifts when you had people who loved you.

And now I had Fairy Tail. Now I had Lucy. The Christmases with Fairy Tail had been more fun than he'd ever had during the holidays. All the laughter, the playful fights, the teasing, everything. And that Christmas two years ago had been one of the best; when his enemy (well, friend, but Gray would never admit that) had helped him get together with his crush. And even now, Gray was still wondering how the hell it had worked. And last Christmas was great too. The party had gotten wild, and he and Lucy had gone home to sit on the couch. He remembered it vividly. Lucy, leaning against him reading the new book Levy had given her, him playing gently with her soft blonde hair as the fire (Lucy had insisted that they light one) crackled happily.

He found himself outside the door of Lucy's house again, and he exhaled with a smile. He tucked the present uner his shirt and entered the house. Lucy wasn't up yet, even though he'd been gone for about twenty minutes. He thought she'd be up by then, but maybe she was more tired than he'd previously thought.

He ran to the back room and hid the present inside a paper bag and shoved it into the very back, top shelf of the closet, the one that Lucy couldn't reach. He made sure it was out of sight before closing the door and heading back to the bedroom. He shook Lucy's smooth shoulder gently, attempting to wake her up.

It worked. Lucy's brown eyes slowly opened and she stared up at Gray. She smiled.

"Hi, Gray..." She mumbled. Gray smiled.

"You wanna skip going to the guild today? You're really tired." He whispered. Lucy shifted so that she was facing the ceiling.

"Okay... you wanna go for a walk later on?" She asked quietly as Gray got into bed beside her. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and twisted the golden lock between his fingers.

"Sure. But you should get a little more sleep before then, 'cause I don't want to have to carry you back because you're too tired." He joked. Lucy giggled and snuggled closer to him.

"Great... I'm perfectly fine with that..." She trailed off, falling back asleep. Her grip on him didn't loosen in the slightest, and Gray was thankful for the pressure, and he rested his chin on top of her head. Well, now he had a walk to look forward to. This is what the holidays should be. No stress about getting lots of presents, no running around making extravagant dinners, just peace. Just laying down in the morning with someone you love, and spending a day with them. He closed his eyes, breathing in her sweet scent.

Nothing could be better than this.


	3. The watch

Mizu-chan- Sorry I didn't update this story yesterday, I got home really late, and didn't have time to update it. The next chapter will also be put up today, don't worry. Love you guys, happy Holidays! 3

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><p>Lucy was facing a looming problem.<p>

She had absolutely _no clue _of what to get Gray for Christmas. She didn't need too, as when she asked what he wanted, he said he didn't need anything but her (_'Aww.' _She'd thought), and had refused to answer the question. She had told him the same, but Lucy had a sneaking suspicion that he'd gone and gotten her something, so besides wanting to get him something, she felt that it would be rude not to give him something in return.

But she had, again, no clue. She'd gotten him necklaces the past two Holidays, so she thought that getting him the third pendant in a row would be kind of... unoriginal. But she wouldn't give up, not yet, and not ever.

So here she was, standing in a gift shop, eyeing a jar filled with what looked suspiciously like magic infused candies. Lucy thought it was maybe just a trick her eyes were playing on her, but she swore the round, red sweets were glowing pink. She had a feeling that they would be something Natsu would like, so she decided to get a handful for her best friend.

She sighed as she roamed through the isles, rubbing her fingers. They wouldn't go back to their normal color since her and Gray's walk yesterday. Lucy figured Gray must've been a bit jumpy, or high-strung, because her fingertips had been just the tiniest bit frostbitten by the time they got back, from a mixture of the natural cold and holding Gray's icy hands. He'd apologized up and down the block for about an hour before Lucy finally got him to shut up.

Her eyes scanned the shelves, looking for something that would suit him. Nothing cute, definitely not. And nothing too fancy, she reminded herself as she inspected a carefully etched piece of silver. But it was a charm anyways, and she'd told herself not to get anymore jewelry for him.

Her eyes were drawn to a small ticking, and her head turned to the left to see a plain watch on display. Curious, she checked the price tag. She blinked. Any normal watch wouldn't have costed that much, so there must've been something special about it. She picked up the small box and looked closer. The steel rim of the watch was well polished, and the glass shone like crystal. The hands were ornate arrows, but they weren't telling the right time, and it didn't seem to have anything to reset it. She flipped over the box to read the back.

Of course.

Of course it was magic.

She read the description with intrest. It apparently was a watch that when you twisted the metal rim, the clock face would (magically, obviously,) form into a spike to be used in tight situations.

Lucy laughed. Not that Gray really needed any help with defending himself, but Lucy knew in her gut that he would think it was cool. It was something about Gray that most people didn't actually know. Even if it was totally useless or just barely useful, if it was interesting, he would linger, even for just a second, to look at it. So Lucy felt that this would, indeed, be a good gift for him.

She brought the watch to the register, along with a small bag of the magic candies for Natsu, and paid for them. Wishing the cashier a happy Holiday, she left the shop with a smile on her face. Gray was out today on a small, solo job outside of town, and he said he'd be back by dinner. It was three now, so she had a few hours. Not that she needed a few hours to wrap a small gift such as this, but she also needed to finish the last chapter she'd been working on for Levy.

She unlocked the door to her house and stepped inside, sighing in relief at the comforting warmth. She dashed to the closet and pulled out a roll of wrapping paper, took it to her dining room table, and proceeded to wrap the box carefully. She tied a bow around the bag of candy, knowing that Natsu didn't need anything to be wrapped, and wrote small tags. She huffed and stood up with the gifts. She took them to her bedroom and shoved them under the bed on her side, knowing that Gray wouldn't even attempt to clean under the bed.

She stood up only to flop back down onto the bed. It wasn't like she was out of energy, she was just... peaceful. She loved the feeling the snow brought, not only physically, but mentally too. It changed the air. The air was lighter, it was easier to breathe, and it seemed to lift peoples spirits. The atmosphere on the whole town had become happy and cheerful, and you couldn't walk down the street without getting smiles from people passing by.

Lucy closed her eyes and smiled. She flipped over onto her stomach and shoved her face into the pillow she shared with Gray. She could smell his scent, and it made her heart skip a beat as if he'd walked into the room. She always felt that way, even after dating him to two-no, almost three years. When he'd wrap his arms around her, she would blush like a little girl. When he would kiss her, her brain would shut down and her heart would beat against her chest like a bird attempting to escape a cage.

Yeah, he was all she needed for Christmas. Him, her, and her family. Even if she lived in the middle of a desert, as long as she had them, Christmas time was still one of the happiest times of the year for her.


	4. Warm welcome hugs

Gray watched out the window, hoping to get back soon, but he knew it would take an hour at most. He couldn't wait to be back home.

The job had really been nothing, it was just to help escort a particularly well known wealthy man and his daughter, but nothing had happened. It had paid well though, so Gray wasn't about to complain about not getting to do anything exciting. Besides, he'd have the guild to get back to, what could be more freaking exciting than that? Maybe he'd rile Natsu up for a good fight when he got back.

His mind drifted, lulled by the rocking of the carriage, and he allowed his thoughts to take over as the lush mountain scenery passed by.

He let himself remember the time that he and his father went outside to play in the snow one year, after they'd woken up on Christmas morning, and they'd come inside covered in snow, and his mother had scolded them both. She'd made him and his father get redressed before they sat down to give out presents. She made them all tea and had set up the camera for a family photo. It had been lost to Deliora's attack, but Gray remembered it. The three of them, all smiling, and Gray's father making bunny ears behind Gray's head with his fingers without him knowing.

Gray smiled. Even though it made him sad to think about his family, his life before the town was destroyed, it was nice to remember something so lucidly, especially something so important to him.

He remembered a more recent Christmas, the one Christmas he'd shared with Ur and Lyon. Jokingly, Lyon had insisted that Ur let him give an ice straight jacket to Gray, to help rid him of his habit, and Ur had complied as long as it was a joke, according to her. She'd made him a small ice rose, and it had taken five months for it to melt, but Gray still held it in memory. He'd given them the best ice pendants he could make, but at that time, they really just looked like mishapen blobs, so he more gave them a laugh than two icy snowflakes. He was okay with that though, the joy lasted longer than the blobs anyways.

Gray slipped his hand into his pocket and felt the pendant that Lucy had given him to years ago. He took it out and stared at it. It, miraculously, looked good as new. It's small, aquamarine gems glittered happily, and the silver shone as if it had just been polished. It practically was. I took it out often, so I guess my fingers had kept dirt from setting on it.

I snickered as I remembered that Christmas. It had been one of my favorite Christmases at the guild, and it had been hilarious. He remembered every second of it like it had been yesterday. Him waking up the day before Christmas to an alarm clock Lucy had placed there. His and Natsu's plan, Lucy's blushing face after he'd kissed her; everything was clear as day.

He grinned. He couldn't wait to get back to her. To Lucy. He'd only been gone for what, a day and a few hours? He'd seen her just yesterday, and he already missed her. But it was fine. He'd be with her soon.

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><p>Lucy was bored.<p>

She sat at her dining room table, sipping a cup of hot tea, and just spacing out. She stared at her living room, vaguely noticing that they needed a tree. She made a mental note to go out with Gray tomorrow to get one.

She sighed and closed her eyes. She hadn't thought about it much, but when had she stopped having a proper Christmas at her old house? Had it been the year her mother died? Or had it slowly dwindled away over the years that the beautiful woman had passed away?

She thought back to the first Christmas she could remember. She was about five, and her mother had gotten her the least extravagant gift possible for the daughter of a wealthy family. It was a little music box. When she opened it, a pretty, simple tune played and a small ballerina spun slowly in a circle. A few years after, she learned that the tune was Greensleeves. She still had it, tucked away behind all her things on her desk, where it was in the least likely place of being destroyed by Natsu's fire.

Lucy looked towards her bedroom, suddenly wanting to listen to it. So she stood up and walked over to the stand, pulled it out, and lifted the lid. The ballerina started up jerkily, after years of being used, and the plinking began to create the beautiful tune. Lucy subconciously started to hum along.

She closed it and put it back where it was when her eyes began to water. Sometimes she could listen to it without tearing up, but she usually couldn't and she'd have to close it. She tried to think of something else as she sat down on her bed, but her mind drifted back to the last 'Christmas' she'd shared with her father.

It had been a silent dinner, but she hadn't been in the mood for eating, due to the fact that a few days before, she and her father had gotten into a nasty dispute and it had made her feel sick, believe it or not. Her father had tensely reminded her that she had a suitor coming for dinner the next day, and that she had to prepare. She'd thrown down her fork, given her father the most disgusted look she could muster, and fled to her room. A few hours later, there had been a knock on her door, and she'd opened it to find the servants from the kitchen standing outside, each with a handmade card in their hands. Lucy had promptly burst into tears and given them all the biggest hug she could. It had, somehow, been the most loving gesture towards her since her mother had died.

She didn't actually hate thinking about that Christmas. It only made her wonder where they all were now. After her father had lost the railroads, they must've gone to live somewhere else. She hoped she would see them again someday.

And then... then there was last Christmas. The one she'd spent with Gray. She and him had gone to the guild's Christmas party, as usual, and they'd had fun, but they'd gotten tired of all the noise and crowdedness of the hall. So they'd left the guild and gone back to Lucy's house, where she'd made them both tea. In the quiet house, they'd given each other their gifts and kissed. Then the power went out, causing them to be thrown into darkness with a loud squeal from Lucy. Gray had laughed, and Lucy had pinched his nose and scarmbled away on her hands and knees into the dark, where he couldn't find her until their eyes had adjusted to the moonlight. He'd kissed her again and they'd stayed like that for a while, before Lucy had started shivering and said that she needed to light a fire, much to Gray's dismay. He didn't refuse though, knowing that not everyone had his resistance to cold.

That had been by far the most fun she'd had at Christmas, besides the one before that of course, when Lucy had 'accidentally' pushed Lucy into Gray, locking them together under the mistletoe, where they wouldn't have been able to leave until they'd kissed or Levy took down the runes trapping them.

Lucy smiled widely. She couldn't wait until Gray got home. According to what he'd said, he'd be home any minute now. Of course, for Gray, 'any minute now' became 'in ten more minutes'.

However, it seemed Gray had an early Christmas gift for her. He got home on time for once. Lucy heard the door open and close, and she leapt up and ran to greet him. He'd just kicked off one of his boots when Lucy attacked him with a 'welcome home' hug. He laughed and hugged her back, kissing her forehead gently. Every day, it was turning out to be a good Holiday.


	5. Reflecting lights

**Mizu-chan- I'm uploading these really lat ein the day, aren't I? Oh well, at least this one's on time! :P Hope you guys like it!**

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><p>"Should I make eggnog? Or do you think someone's making that already?"<p>

"It doesn't matter, it'll probably be better to make more anyways, it'll run out fast."

"Kay, I guess I should get more milk then."

Lucy and Gray stood in the dairy section of the super market, Lucy wondering if she was doing too much. She and Gray weren't in charge of the food, but they'd been told they could. Lucy decided to make a few sweets, and so she dragged Gray along with her because they needed to get a tree as well.

"Why am I here again?" Gray moaned, sounding impatient. Lucy scoffed as she placed a gallon jug of milk into her cart.

"You're impossible, honsetly. You have to help me, remember? We have to pick out a tree, and I can't carry a tree and groceries at the same time!" She reasoned. Gray rolled his eyes and muttered something about being "perfectly capable" before laughing along with his amused girlfriend.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I don't like shopping, that's all." Gray complained. Lucy's brows raised sarcastically.

"I noticed." She answered dryly, picking up a pack of butter to check if it was salted or unsalted. She added it to the cart and clapped her hands together, startling Gray, who had begun to drift off into his own thoughts. "We're all set! Let's go." She cheered, pushing the cart towards the cash register.

She handed over the money as the young woman scanned the groceries, and flashed Lucy a happy smile, which the Celestial Spirit made returned.

"Happy Holidays, Miss!" The cashier said. Lucy nodded.

"Happy Holidays. Thank you!" She said, pulling on Gray's arm and leading him out the door with her bags slung on her arm. She squinted for a moment before her eyes adjusted to the blinding sunlight reflecting off the snow. It glittered in the golden rays of the late afternoon sun, and the streets were bustling as people got ready for Christmas, which was just around the corner.

Gray tapped on Lucy's shoulder. She turned to him and smiled.

"What is it?" She asked quietly. Gray blushed lightly and turned away, pointing down the street to a small shop with an array of bushy, green pines on display.

"It's... it's a reasonable price, remember? From last year?" He muttered, scratching the back of his neck in embarassment. Lucy grinned and poked his cheek.

"What's got you all flustered?" She teased, hugging him from behind. She watched his cheeks go an even darker shade and she giggled. "Wow, I thought I was the only one who still got this embarrassed around you!" She joked. Gray looked at her in amusement.

"Why do you get embarrassed by me?" He asked, feigning confusion. He knew exactly what it was, and he smirked. It was Lucy's turn to blush.

"Well, for one, when you do _that_." She said, touching her pointer finger to his lips. He smiled, leaned down, and kissed her forehead.

"How about that?" He asked, pulling away. Lucy was now a deep crimson. He grinned. "Looks like that's another way."

"N-no... it-it's just the fact that... you just... you just kissed me in public, Gray... people are staring at us..." She murmured, trailing off and biting her lip. She watched him as Gray blinked, seeming to remember that they were, in fact, in the middle of a crowded street, and he looked around. People were indeed staring, but not out of shock. They all had looks on their faces that clearly said, 'awwwwww...'

Gray grabbed Lucy's hand and stalked off towards the Christmas tree shop, the tips of his ears bright red. Lucy laughed awkwardly as they left the street to buy a Christmas tree.

Gray and Lucy, after calming down a bit, began to move through the trees, searching for a good one that would actually fit in Lucy's house. They eventually found a smaller one, but with full branches that wouldn't take up half the living room. It was also easy to carry it the short distance back to the house. Gray insisted that he carry it, much to Lucy's dissappointment.

"Why on earth do you want to carry the tree?" He asked, bewildered. Lucy bit her lip before whispering her answer.

"There's no other reasonable excuse to hug it." She stuck her tongue out as Gray began to laugh. He repeated the teasing action and held the tree out of her reach.

"Well, maybe _I _want to hug it too!" He joked. Lucy rolled her eyes and gave up, and they brought the tree back to her house.

When they got there, Lucy told Gray to make tea while she set up the tree in the stand and poured water into the bowl. After she was done, she took the groceries into the kitchen and started putting them away. She kept all the cookie supplies in one place, so she wouldn't lose anything before she made them. She and Gray returned to the living room with their tea, and they sat on the couch together, Lucy snuggled up against him under a blanket.

"How are you cold?"

"I'm not an Ice Mage."

"It's pretty damn hot in here for even an average person."

"I'm not used to being cold."

"But-"

"Just shut up, Gray." She sighed and rested her chin on his bare shoulder. His shirt lay forgotton, draped over the back of the couch. They sat like that for a while, just in silence. Occasionally, a person would call to another on the street below them, but other than that, there was almost no sound except for their gentle breaths. The late afternoon sun eventually dipped down to touch the horizon, before leaving the job of lighting the town to the moon.

"You wanna decorate the tree now?" Lucy murmured, looking at the time. It was 4:18; the sun had just set. Gray stretched.

"Sure. Where are the decorations?"

"I'll get them."

"Okay."

Lucy left Gray sitting on the couch and she went to the closet. She pulled out the large box of neatly organized tree decorations. She huffed as she lifted it into her arms, but the weight soon became less of a burden, and she carried it out to the living room with little difficulty.

She set it down with a _thunk _next to the tree and dusted off her hands. "Alright! Let's get to it!" She cheered, and she took out a string of light lacrima. Gray stood and helped her drape the lights around the tree, before picing out a silver garland to hang around the lights.

The night went on, and pretty soon, Lucy hung the last ornamant: A silver bulb with with small blue beads attached to create the look of a glittering puff of snow. It was her mothers favorite ornament, so she'd taken it with her when she'd run away from home. Gray already knew about it, Lucy had told him the year before. It still made her happy to hang it on the tree, after all these years. It was still a special moment.

She and Gray stepped back. Lucy held up her hand.

"Wait."

She darted over to the light switch for the tree, flicked them on, then turned off the main lights in the room. She stumbled her way through the dark, back to Gray's side, and she and her sat on the couch, gazing at their work.

The tree shone like a thousand stars, the lights twinkling like comets. The bulbs flashed with reflected light as they spun from side to side, and the strands of silver tinsel looked like icicles hanging off the branches of the tree.

Lucy sighed and leaned against Gray, and Gray wrapped his arm around her tightly.

"There's always something special about a Christmas tree, hm?" She said softly. Gray nodded.

"Yeah..."

There was a stretch of comfortable silence as they continued to watch the tree twinkle. Gray took his gaze from the tree and looked at Lucy. Most of her body was in shadow, because of the lack of the main light, but her beautiful brown eyes sparkled with the lights from the tree. His breath caught in his throat and his heart seemed to stop. He touched her hair.

"Hey, Luce..." He caught her attention and she turned those amazing eyes to him.

"Hm?" She hummed. Gray leaned forward and planted a small kiss on her soft lips. Lucy returned the kiss, and after a moment, the two drew away.

"I love you." He murmured quietly. Lucy smiled.

"I love you too."


	6. Ice skates and closeness

**Mizu-chan- Sorry, I couldn't update yesterday, and I'll post another chapter tonight. I'm also sorry, this chapter is short and it kinda ended badly. The other chapters won't be as horrid. I'm so sorry! T.T Love you guys!**

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><p>Lucy gasped as she slipped again on the slick ice, and a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist, preventing her from falling.<p>

"That's like, the tenth time you've fallen. C'mon, you must be used to it by now!" Gray snickered as he pulled Lucy back to her feet. She dusted her spotless coat off, ridding it of invisible flecks of ice before turning around and poking Gray in the chest. He'd lost his shirt again. Figures.

"Well, obviously not! I don't have the balance you do!" She protested, puffing out her cheeks in teasing anger. Gray rolled his eyes and took her hand.

"Come on, it's like walking. Last I checked, you could walk." Gray joked. Lucy huffed and shoved him, causing him to lose his balance and fall. He yelped as he sat down hard on the thick ice, and Lucy double over.

"C-come on... it's like walking..." She mocked him when she was finally able to calm herself down a bit. Gray scowled and held out his hand expectantly, and Lucy, now satistfied with her revenge, took it, about to pull him to his feet.

Gray grinned widely and tugged on her arm, making Lucy fall down with a shout into him. He wrestled her to the freezing ice and pressed her cheek to the cold, frozen water, laughing hard as Lucy squirmed.

"Hyaaaa! Gray, that's freezing cold!" She complained. Gray moved her so that she was laying on top of him, and Lucy blushed. Gray raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, does this make you uncomfortable? I'm so sorry." He 'apologized' with sarcasm dripping off his words and melting holes in the ice. He tightened the hug so that Lucy's ear was against his chest, and Lucy squealed.

"Gray, what if someone comes along and sees us?! They're gonna think something very different other than 'aw, what a cute couple.'" Lucy tried to get up, but she somehow didn't want to get out of the position. She could feel his steady and sure heartbeat, and it was making her less flustered and cold.

"Luce, no one is gonna find us in the middle of the freakin' woods in December. No one in their right minds would be out here." Gray muttered. He was staring at Lucy with a sort of detachment, as if he were drifting off into his own thoughts. Lucy frowned and pushed herself up so she could stare down at him.

"Then why are we out here?" She asked, sounding amused. Gray chuckled.

"Did I say we were right in the head? No." He replied. Lucy shrugged.

"Fair enough. I guess you have to be sort of crazy to join-and stay-in Fairy Tail."

" 'Course you have to be crazy. Think of one sane person in Fairy Tail." Gray challanged as he sat up. Lucy scoffed.

"That's easy. Wendy and Carla. That's two."

"Carla's a cat."

"Okay, you've got a point. But Wendy is one person."

"She has to be some sort of crazy, she's stayed with us this long!" He laughed. Lucy giggled.

"Well, we'll just have to ask, don't we?" She said, rolling her eyes.

"Come on, let's go sit on the shore instead of the ice." Gray suggested, letting Lucy off of him and standing up, before holding out his hand to Lucy. Lucy nodded as she took it, and he helped her up. The two of them walked (well, Lucy slipped and stumbled,) across the ice to the shore, where they found a large tree root that was sticking up out of the snow at the edge of the clearing. They sat down and sighed simultaniously.

They were in the middle of the East Woods, at the frozen over pond. It was a bit darker in the woods, but the sun still shone through the spindely, leafless branches, creating interesting shadows on the bright white snow. Lucy looked at Gray and smiled. His raven black hair stood out with shocking contrast against the pale background, and his navy blue eyes glittered with the sunlight. The shadows created by the high, afternoon sun sharpened his already hard features, and he looked like someone who would have a chance at getting by as a super model.

But Lucy knew Gray would never go for that idea. Not in a million years,

Oh well, he could be _her _super model. He could be her sunlight, and her clouds. He could be her bright days.

It didn't matter what he wanted to do with his self, as long as he stayed by her side.

And she knew he would.

She would see it in the way he looked at her, the way he teased her, and kissed her, and played with her hair.

She knew he loved her. And she loved him back.

"Oi, Lucy. You're spacing out. You okay?" Gray's concerned voice cut into her thoughts, and she blinked. His brow furrowed. "Are you getting sick?" He said, placing a hand on her forehead and sighing in relief when he found it wasn't hot. Lucy laughed.

"No, I'm fine. Just... thinking."

"About what?"

"Snowballs."

"Snowballs?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Facsinating things, snowballs are. Don't you think?"

"Are you sure you're not sick?"

"No way."

"Really...?"

"Yup."

Gray laughed softly and ruffled her hair. "You certainly are weird, Luce." Lucy slapped his hand away with a grin.

"Says the one who likes to kiss me in public." She retorted playfully. Gray blushed.

"That's normal!" He protested. Lucy leaned in and kissed his cheek.

"Okay, I have to say, I didn't mind it when it was happening." She mumbled. Gray wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed her back.

"I knew you didn't." He breathed. Lucy shivered and closed her eyes.

"Let's go back. I want hot chocolate." She said in a slightly childish voice. Gray 'pshed' and stood up.

"Okay, let's go back. We need to get to the guild early tomorrow anyways, and we wanna get a good nights sleep."

And as Lucy took Gray's hand in hers, her heart sped up, and decided that it was more comfortable in her stomach.

She loved feeling this way.

So close to him.

Just as he'd said to her a while back, how he loved being so close to her.

And she was fine with that.


	7. It's the little things

It was the little things that made Lucy perfect that Gray adored.

Standing there, up on that ladder, helping string up the lights, he had a perfect view of his girlfriend. He would honestly stand there all freakin' day long and just look at her.

Not just because of her "basic" appearance, no. Although her shape was definitely something to consider, seeing as that's what had attracted Gray to Lucy in the first place. Her long, sleek golden blonde hair that fell to her midback now, her smooth skin, her dainty fingers, the way she held herself, she was so... so _regal. _Well, she'd look even more regal if she wore more, ah, _covering _clothing, but Gray wasn't about to complain.

Sure, it had been her body that first attracted him, Gray would admit to that. He'd admitted it to Lucy, even. She didn't really care, seeing as they'd been a year and a half into their relationship at that time. But then, little by little, even before they started dating, Gray began to notice the smaller things.

Her smile, for one. It was one of the first things he noticed. First those tiny smiles, the bashful, modest ones that she would allow herself to express, the ones when she was either embarrassed or trying to hide pain. Those small, sad smiles were what caught his attention. When he'd see her smile like that, in that half-hearted way, he just wanted to make everything better.

Then, there were those beautiful, honest smiles. When she was laughing along with a group of people, hugging her friends, talking at a table with them. He loved it when she smiled like that. That was the smile that could make _anyones _heart decide that it suddenly wanted to do jumping jacks. The smile that could make the sun follow her into the room and brighten everyone's day. The smile that had made Gray lose his balance and fall, albeit ungracefully, into Lucy's trap. That was the smile that had him ensnared in the bonds of a relationship that he didn't ever want to break.

Then, of course, was her laugh. It wasn't at all the type of laugh that you'd expect out of such a sweet, composed looking girl. And it was _definitely _not "lady-like" as her father would have preferred. That's what Gray loved about it. Her laugh was loud, cheerful, and would turn heads in whatever kind of place they were in. That uncaring, boisterous laugh. It was the laugh that when she did it, he would catch himself laughing along with her.

And her eyes... when they'd first met, those big, beautiful brown eyes had been filled with nervousness and a little bit of disgust... seeing as how the first impression of Gray she got was, well... a little too, _personal_ for her tastes, or at least, that's how it had seemed. But that had been one of the few chances he got to really look into her eyes, and not just a quick glance when he hoped no one was was looking. But eventually they'd gotten close enough so that when he stared, he could pass it off as drifting off into space. But in reality, they were roping him in, daring him to look further. Her eyes were like kaleidoscopes. They reflected the lights off the christmas lights, the sun. They glimmered like the snow, and she was even beautiful when those eyes streamed with tears.

And her soul was something of an angels. Like, an angel just happened to be walking along and decided to give it's soul to the next person to be born, and that just happened to be Lucy. She was generous (at most times), caring, she loved the people around her. She tried to help people. She could see past people's masks, their shells. She helped people open up, Gray had seen it, he himself had been one of her "patients". He'd been sad, and unwilling to talk to anyone all day, since it was the day of Ur's "death", but somehow, when Lucy approached him at the table in the corner of the guild with him, and just talked, she eventually got him to tell her what was wrong. And, after that, she got him to smile. It was some sort of super power, Gray swore by it. Some power sent from a heaven he didn't believe in. That is, until he met Lucy. But she _was_ his heaven. She was no property of anyone's, not even "heaven".

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><p>Lucy glanced up at Gray and caught him staring. She smiled and winked at him, and he stuck out his tongue. Then, someone called him over to help with something and he waved good bye before disappearing into the kitchens.<p>

Lucy sighed and continued sorting through boxes of christmas ornaments, putting the broken ones in a pile to be thrown out/mended, and placing the good ones carefully into padded containers. Her mind was on other things though. Things like... like Gray, for instance.

Psh. Who was she kidding? He was practically the only thing on her mind at the moment. It was nearing their anniversary, and her heart beat a little faster with each day closer. Besides, that mixed with the prospect of the upcoming christmas, who wouldn't be excited? But that little detail was only the icing on the cake, so to speak. Her mind, at that moment, was clinging to her boyfriend.

Her hands stopped moving. What in the world had attracted her to Gray in the first place? Because, well, their meeting wasn't the most proper, and they hadn't even interacted as much as they did with other people. She mostly had talked with Natsu and Erza and Wendy, and she and Gray had barely ever spoken, unless she was telling him to put his clothes back on, which was fairly frequently.

Oh, right. It was his seemingly aloof and detached personality that had first gotten Lucy interested. Nothing more than interested, but she was curious to see what that personality was hiding. She knew. She looked in his dark, beautiful eyes, and knew that under that personality, there was something else. That's what had drawn Lucy in.

His sense of humor was another thing that made Lucy attracted to him. It was a kind of humor that you could only catch if you were paying close attention, and with some of it, only people were weren't dense could get it... which meant Natsu had no clue what some of his jokes meant. But when Lucy noticed it, it made her laugh, and she didn't care if she looked like she was a lunatic, laughing at something other people didn't get, because Gray had the kind of humor that was impossible for Lucy not to laugh at.

And his honesty. Now _that _was something Lucy adored. Despite him having secrets, he was honest about what he was feeling, at least, he was honest with Lucy. If Lucy happened to look at him and he seemed even the slightest bit... under the weather, she would know something was wrong. And if she asked him to tell her what was up, he'd tell her one of two things; maybe later, or he'd tell her what was bothering him. Maybe he didn't answer all the time, but he'd never lied about it. He'd never said something was wrong when it wasn't. He'd never lied about what was bothering him, he'd never passed it off with a joke or anything. Maybe it was a little, insignificant thing to most people, but to her, it made her feel trusted, and that made her happy.

And he was caring. No matter how cool and uninterested he sometimes acted in public, that wasn't exactly him. It was a part of him sure, but anyone could see that he cared deeply for the people he loved. Whether it be an enemy attacking a friend, or just Lucy falling and skinning her knee, he cared. Although, with that last one, he'd normally laugh after seeing that she was okay. But he'd still help her wash it off once they got to a place where they could do that, even if Lucy insisted that she could do it herself. It made her feel warm inside, the way he was so caring towards his friends.

But what topped off all of those other things she loved about him, was him as a whole. All of the little things that made him... well, _him_. The way he would smile when he was either really happy or at home alone with Lucy. The way he planted a soft, brief kiss on her forehead when he thought she was asleep. They way he held her hand, so gently, yet firm, as if saying, "I'm not letting you go so soon." And Lucy wouldn't even dream of it. She wouldn't be letting him go so soon either. Not when his smile could set her heart off like fireworks, one explosion of happiness after another. Not when his lips touching hers made her feel like they were the only two people in the world. Not when his eyes shone whenever he grinned at her. No, she wouldn't leave him. She loved him, and she loved all the little things about him that made him who he was.


	8. Short and sweet

**Mizu-chan- Okay, sorry for not updating on time. Lol. This is a "short and sweet" chapter. Or, at least I like to think it is. It's a teensy bit rushed (not as bad as some of my other chapters on other stories), but it's not horrible. Pleeze forgeeve mehhh... Luv yü guuuyysss...**

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><p>"Okay, so you got presents for everyone?" Gray asked, not seeming as interested as he pretended to be. Lucy nodded and answered.<p>

"Yeah. Well, not everyone, but the people on our team. I didn't have much time to get something for everyone, and I don't have the money at the moment. But I got these hot candies for Natsu, a pack of fish flavored gum for Happy-"

"Ew." Gray interrupted. Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Look, I got what I thought would make them happy, alright? Anyways, I got a cake for Erza, a new dress for Wendy for her to wear in the summer, and a nice hat for Carla. Remember how she was complaining about not having a decent one?" She mused. Gray nodded absent mindedly.

"Kay then."

They sat in silence for a while, listening to the sounds of the guild around them. It was nighttime, and there weren't many people, but it was still bustling. Lucy sighed and leaned her head on Gray's shoulder.

"I'm bored." She muttered. Gray ruffled her hair and she yelped. "Hey! It was actually looking good for once!" She complained. Gray laughed.

"It always looks good. Besides, we're in the guild, it's not like we're going to a ball or anything." He reasoned. Lucy scoffed.

"You don't have to be going to a ball to make your hair look nice." She said. She glanced up at him. "Hey, what would your hair look like if it were brushed?" She asked, sounding genuinely curious. Gray scowled playfully.

"It _is _brushed! I always brush it." He protested. Lucy shook her head and reached up to touch his locks.

"No, I mean, if it were brushed down... not spiky." She said.

Gray scoffed. "I'd look like Max, if he died his hair black." He replied. It was Lucy's turn to laugh.

"You look nothing like Max! You two have totally different faces."

"Okay. Here's the point: I wouldn't look good and- stop that!" He cried out as she flattened his hair to his head as best she could. She giggled.

"Oh, I think you look just _dashing._" She joked. Gray huffed.

"I think I look ridiculous. Let go of my hair." He grumbled. Lucy let go and let her hands fall onto the table. She picked up her book, which she'd left sitting there, forgotten. She flipped to the page she'd left off, but after a moment, she sighed and put it down again.

"Hey, Gray?" She started.

"Hm?"

She leaned up and touched his cheek with her hand. "Can you kiss me?" She murmured, blushing. After a short, slightly stunned moment, Gray snickered. He turned his head and pressed his lips to hers in a slow, soft kiss.

They stayed like that for a moment, breathing in each other's scent, before pulling apart. Lucy smiled. She was glad that she and Gray could have these short, sweet moments like those, and be able to live in the present.

As long as she and Gray could have those moments, she didn't need anything else for Christmas.


	9. Letter to mama

**Mizu-chan- Lol... so much for putting up a chapter every day... ah well, I'm catchin' up, alright? Pease forgive meh. Love you all!**

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><p><em>Dear Mother,<em>

_Merry Christmas! How have you been? I hope you've been well. I'm great, just so you know. It's been a great year, but judging from my previous letters, you already figured that, right? Ah well._

_I've been having a good time these past few days. Gray and I have been spending a lot of time together, and I feel like we've grown even closer, if you can believe that. It's kind of funny how well we get along at most times, and then how we can get into fights about petty things. We had a fight a while back, like, about two weeks ago. He thought I was flirting with a guy who came to visit the guild. I wasn't, I was just being nice, but he was in a bad mood that day, Natsu gave him a pretty nasty burn while they were brawling. We made up though. Oh, but I told you all that two weeks ago, didn't I? I'm so forgetful sometimes._

_I feel kind of bad, I only got gifts for the team this year. I just didn't have the money to buy everyone in the guild gifts this year. I hope they understand. It's not like I'll give the team their gifts in front of everyone else, I'll bring them to their homes, but I still feel guilty. I'll make it up to the others in some way._

_Do you remember the Christmases we spent together? Remember the music box? I still have it. It's on my dresser. I should take it out more often though. I just don't want someone to accidentally wreck it. But hey, I guess you can't hide yourself away, just because you don't want to die, right? Same deal. I'll put it up on the mantle tonight. I miss our Christmases together, mama. But I have a lot of friends now, and the past two Christmases with them have been some of the greatest times of my life._

_Gray's out right now, I don't know what he's doing. He wouldn't tell me. He's probably out fighting with Natsu again. Those two don't ever learn, do they? I've been thinking lately, how long do you think we'll last? I mean, I'm perfectly happy right now, and as long as that's all good, then I'm good, but, you know, I can't help but think about the future. Oh well, I can't predict anything. I hope we can stay together though. He's become one of the most important people in my life, I honestly don't know what I'd do without him. Is this what you felt with papa?_

_I only really have one wish for Christmas, mama. I hope you agree with me. I have the feeling you will. I only wish to have many more adventures with my family, my friends. I don't want to lose them. I know that the life of a mage is dangerous, especially when you're part of the strongest guild in Fiore, and I know that our lives could be in danger just by walking down an unfamiliar street, but that's what I wish for. I just want to stay with them._

_Well, mama, I hope you're well. It was nice to write to you again, I know I haven't done it in a few days. I miss you and papa so much. I love you both. Merry Christmas, you two._

_Love, your daughter,_

_Lucy Heartfilia._

That night, before Gray got home, Lucy took out her little music box from where it was tucked away on her dresser drawer. Her fingers brushed over the carved wood, and she recognised every pattern. Tears came to her eyes, as they usually did, and she didn't wipe them away. She let them fall as she placed the box in the center of the mantle. She smiled and looked at the box for a moment, before turning away. She heard the door open and Gray called to her, his voice cheerful. Lucy's smile grew wider as she went to go and greet him. She grinned up at him as he kissed her forehead.

Why should she dwell on the past when her present was by far the best gift she could ever be given?

So she let it go. It was Christmas time, there was no room for sadness.


	10. Flour

"Gray, can you hand be that thing of flour?"

"Sure. Anything else?"

"Hm... take out two sticks of butter and leave them out on the counter to let them soften."

Gray did so and watched Lucy as she measured the flour and sifted it into the mix. "What are you making again?" He asked curiously. Lucy laughed softly and gently kicked his leg.

"For the fifth time, Gray, I'm making snowball cookies!" She answered, amusement glittering in her eyes when she looked at him. He shrugged.

"Sorry, I'm spacy today." He said. Lucy scoffed.

"No kidding. Hey!" She yelped as a puff of flour was blown into her face, leaving the white dust to settle in her eyelashes and eyebrows, causing Gray to start laughing hysterically.

"You look like you've been stuck in an ice storm!" He joked, gesturing to her flour coated face. Lucy's jaw clenched and her eye twitched. "Jack Frost been nippin' at your nose, Lucy?" He chuckled, finally settling down a bit. Lucy sighed tensely and set down the wooden spoon she'd been using to mix up the dry ingredients. She turned to him and placed her hands on her hips.

"Jack Frost won't be the only one nipping someone if you do that again!" She threatened, then blushed as she realized how that sounded. Gray began laughing again at her flustered appearence. Lucy turned back to her baking. "Sh-shut up! You've said worse!" She retorted. Gray patted her head, and Lucy slapped his hands away.

"What?" He asked, feigning innocence.

Lucy growled at him. "You know perfectly well 'what'. You have flour all over your hands!" She said, now adding the vanilla extract to the dry ingredients. "Can you check if that butter is softened yet?" She asked, changing the subject.

Gray prodded the butter, and frost spread over the surface. He cringed and drew his finger away. "Ah... L-Lucy... I uhm... I just accidentally froze it again..." He muttered, his cheeks pink. How had his magic gotten out of control? Well, it usually did when he was around Lucy. It took some effort to not have ice form on the things he touched, so he had to control it constantly. But with Lucy... he kinda just... loosened up. She didn't usually mind though.

As expected, Lucy sighed, but she didn't get mad. She took off her dusty apron and smiled at Gray. "Nevermind, I'll continue it later. I can make the egg nog now though." She said happily. She draped a cloth over the bowl of mixed up ingredients, then placed a large pot on the stove. Gray pointed at the butter.

"Should I put it by the heater?" He asked her. Lucy raised an eyebrow.

"Not unless you want to be cleaning a puddle of melted butter off the floor. No, it's fine, there's two more days until Christmas, and the party is tomorrow. We're fine, they'll be done in time. The cookies, I mean." She finished. Gray rolled his eyes.

"Well duh, what else would you be talking about?" He asked. Lucy shrugged and turned to pour the milk into the pot.

"Ah, I dunno. I guess my brain is as muddled todays as yours is. Could you get me the cinnamon, the nutmeg, and four eggs? Thanks." She said, without waiting for a response. Gray pouted childishly as she began to stir the two spices into the milk and turned on the heat. Just when she was about to crack the first egg, she was attacked by a white cloud of flour.

She cried out and coughed, then wiped flour out of her eyes before opening them. Gray was laughing again, one of his hand coated in the substance. Lucy felt her brief anger fade away, and she grinned evilly. While his eyes were still closed, she herself grabbed a handfull of flour and dumped in on his black hair. He stopped laughing and looked up at her in shock. Had she really just retaliated? Lucy?

He snickered. "So, it's a fight you want?" He snarled playfully. Lucy stuck her tongue out at him, then put it back in her mouth as she got flour on her tongue.

"You're the one who started it!" She giggled. She wasn't laughing for long though, as she was tackled to the ground and was suddenly having flour rubbed into her own hair. She squealed and squirmed a bit so she was facing him, and clapped her hands in front of his face, causing a cloud of the powdered grain to fly into Gray's face.

He spluttered and did the same to Lucy, and soon, both of them were coughing and laughing together as the flour settled. Gray was about to get off of her, as he'd been sitting on her stomach, when the door burst open and Natsu barreled in.

"Lucy! When are you two coming to the gui-" He stopped dead in his tracks, and Happy flew into his back.

"Natsu! Why did you stop? That was m-" He caught sight of them.

A moment of silence fell upon them before Happy starting laughing.

"Trying out something new, huh?" He said, obviously joking, but it still pissed Lucy off. She shoved Gray off of her with superhuman strength and snatched up a pillow from her couch as she dashed towards them.

"NO WAY! STUPID CAT!" She screamed, blushing beet red, as she hurled the pillow at her two friends with all her might.


	11. Glittering Mistletoe

Lucy laughed loudly, so loud that her voice was heard over the din of the crowded, noisy guild hall. No one seemed to notice, though. Or, at least, they didn't care.

It was the Christmas party at the guild, and Lucy was sitting up against Gray, at a table with Natsu, Erza, Lisanna, Wendy, Levy, Gajeel, and the cats. They'd been there for a few hours... maybe five? Not that anyone was mentioning it, they hadn't even thought about how much time had passed, they were having too much fun. The best kind of party.

A few hours ago, it was spin the bottle, then truth or dare, then there was a dancing contest, which Lucy and Gray promptly lost after they collapsed into hysterical laughter. They didn't care though, in their minds, that was winning. And now, people were finally settling down just a bit, but it was still incredibly loud. They'd chosen a table in the back, where the least amount of people were.

"So... merry Christmas, everyone!" Lucy cheered, for about the fifteenth time that night. Gray flicked her forehead and snickered as she yelped.

"Y'don't need to say it again! I think we all know it's Christmas!" He teased her. Lucy pouted at him.

"Shut up! I still haven't gotten all the flour out of my hair yet! It stuck to my hair in the shower." She grumped. Gray chuckled and lay her head on his shoulder.

"Ah, nevermind about that. It'll come out eventually." He murmured. Lucy noticed he sounded a little tired, and she looked up at him. He was sitting with his eyes closed, as if he were asleep where he sat. Lucy raised an eyebrow.

"Have you had anything to drink?" She asked, amusement clear in her voice. Gray opened one dark eye and grinned.

"Nope. I have to stay awake tonight to make sure Santa puts the presents under the tree." He joked. Lucy giggled.

"Okay, fine, fine. Tell Santa I said hi." She said, playing along with the joke.

Natsu rolled his eyes and shoved another candy into his mouth. "Go somewhere else if you're gonna be all lovey-dovey. It's embarrassing to watch!" He laughed. Lucy and Gray blushed, and the blonde girl turned to him with a face as red as an apple.

"Oh yeah, like you can talk! I saw you and Lisanna making out in a corner only about an hour ago!" She retorted. It was Natsu's turn to blush, and he and Lisanna looked away from each other, both looking bashfull. Natsu huffed.

"Yeah, yeah... whatever..." He said. He coughed and changed the subject. "So, what do you think's going to happen next year? It seems like a new couple forms each year. Either on Christmas or before." He said, speaking through his embarrassment.

Lucy nodded, agreeing with him. "Mm. Two years ago it was Gray and I, last year it was you two," gesturing to Natsu and Lisanna. "and then this year, before Christmas, it was you and Gajeel." She said, turning her attention to her book worm friend. The blue haired teen looked up with a sheepish smile.

"I wonder who's next?" Levy giggled. She twisted her head around along with everyone else at the table to look at Erza, who was sitting, eating a piece of cake, oblivious to the stares. "Ne, Erza, where's Jellal?" Levy asked, nudging Erza with her elbow. Erza looked up, still not noticing the looks she was getting.

"Hm? I don't... I don't know! Why would you ask me?" She replied, trying to act normal but still looking flustered. After a moment of blank stares, everyone except for Erza sighed.

"You know, for someone as tough as you, you're hopeless when it comes to love, sorry to say." Lucy said, then flinched away as she got the most evil death glare in the world from the scarlet haired swordswoman. "Don't kill me please..." she whispered, and hid behind Gray, who quickly pushed her in front of him.

"Nuh uh, you're on your own on this one." He muttered. Lucy glared at him for a moment before settling against his side.

"You know, let's not focus on the future. Let's just focus on right now. We've got our friends here, and that's all I need, personally." She said, closing her eyes and smiling. There was a moment of pleasant silence before Gray poked her forehead.

"Have you had anything to drink?" He mocked her. Lucy stuck out her tongue at him, her eyes still shut. She squeaked as he grabbed it. She sat up, slapping his hand away. The table was laughing and she was babbling on about how disgusting it was to do that. "Calm down, Luce." Gray laughed, squeezing her hand under the table, where no one else would be able to see. "Close your eyes." He said. Lucy, feeling like she could trust him, did so.

After a moment, she heard laughter from her friends, and she couldn't help but open her eyes. What was so funny.

"Hey, Luce. Look up." Gray said with a grin. She did, and she immedeately hid her face in her hands, earning another round of laughter from her guildmates.

"Seriously? In front of everyone?"

"You know the rules, Lu-chan!" Levy crowed. Lucy stared up again at the beautiful sprig of mistletoe Gray was holding above her head. It was made purely out of ice, and it glittered like crystal. Lucy frowned.

"It's not a real piece of mistletoe. It doesn't count."

"Still counts, Lucy!" Happy muttered around his fish. Even Carla was holding back a grin, surprisingly. Wendy bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"You can't get outta this one, Bunny-girl." Gajeel said.

Lucy grit her teeth together and sighed. "Fine. One kiss." She murmured. She turned towards Gray and pressed her lips against hers.

And you know what?

It wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. All other thoughts faded away, along with the other people, the background noise, everything. It was just her and Gray and no one else.

And she couldn't have been happier.


	12. Merry Christmas

**Mizu-chan- WAAAH! Merry Christmas everyone! Or Happy Holidays, if you don't celebrate Christmas! :) I'm so happy... my god sister got engaged this morning! So adorable, and I'm soooo happy for her! Anyways, here's the last chapter of Twelve Days Till Christmas! I love you all, and Happy Holidays! Bai bai! :3**

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><p>This time, Lucy was woken not by an arm slung across her neck, but by a soft kiss on her cheek.<p>

"Hey, Luce. Wake up." Gray murmured in her ear. Lucy sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes before opening them to darkness. She let her eyes adjust to the dark and eventually she could see Gray's features, but only barely.

"Gray... it's still dark out... why are we-" Gray cut Lucy off by putting a finger up to her lips. He kissed her again and moved the blankets off of them. It was surprisingly warm, usually, when Gray slept in Lucy's house (which was basically every night) it got really cold, due to his magic. But it seemed that he had been controlling it well. Either that or he'd actually lit a fire by his own free will.

"Come with me." Gray whispered, curling his fingers around Lucy's. Lucy smiled and allowed herself to be lead to the door. She giggled softly.

"Gray, what are you doing? What time is it?" She asked. Gray squeezed her hand.

"Time to get up."

"..."

"It's five, okay? In the morning. But never mind that, c'mon!" He said hastily, noticing the change in the atmosphere when he told her what time it was. He finally found the knob and turned it. He opened the door and Lucy stared, her breath caught in her throat.

The christmas tree's lights were on, there were only two gifts under the tree, and there were a few small candles glowing with a flickering blue flame. Frost patterns had crept up the wall, the ice not so thick that when it melted, it would leave a puddle, but visible enough to make the walls and the mantelpiece glitter like diamonds. Snow dusted the tree's branches. Lucy laughed quietly.

"Don't tell me you got up early to do this." Lucy huffed, smiling at Gray. He raised an eyebrow.

"Me? Never. It was Santa, obviously." He joked. Lucy scoffed and shouldered him gently. Gray rolled his eyes. "Come on, let's open presents." He said.

They made their way over to the tree, and they gathered the presents into their arms before sitting down on the couch. Lucy handed hers to Gray. Gray grinned. "So much for not getting each other presents."

"Yeah, we both know that niether of us would ever be able to follow that 'rule'." Lucy replied. Gray took the gift from her hands and he gave her his. After exchanging amused glances, they proceeded to take off the wrapping paper. Gray snickered at Lucy's excited gasp as she saw what he'd gotten her. She turned to him, eyes shining. "Thank you, Gray! Oh, my god, I've wanted this since forever."

Gray laughed. "I'm pretty sure it hasn't been forever. Oh, and this is cool." He added, taking the watch out of the package. He inspected it for a moment, then twisted the rim. The clock started to shift and re-mold itself into a deadly looking spike. He touched the tip of it and smirked. "Nah, this isn't even cool, this is awesome! Thanks, Luce." He said. Lucy glowed, happy that she'd succeeded in getting something he liked.

She was about to thank him again when a faint tune reached her ears. Due to the surprise, it took her a moment to recognize the melody, and she sucked in a breath. She looked towards the mantel to see her little music box had opened. Greensleeves played as loud as it had when it had been brand new, and the ballerina spun with no effort, as if it had never been used before. She blinked.

"How is that..." She murmured. Gray followed her gaze and smiled.

"Hm... I dunno... maybe your mom wanted to wish you a merry Christmas." He teased, but it sounded like he was at least _half_ convinced. Lucy giggled and snuggled up to him.

"Maybe... Merry Christmas, Gray." She said happily. Gray ruffled her hair, and this time, Lucy didn't complain.

"Merry Christmas, Lucy." He leaned down and kissed her, and Lucy gladly accepted. There was no sound except for the sounds of their breaths and the pretty tune. The ballerina danced in a circle, smiling serenely.

Lucy didn't know what was going to come of next Christmas, but she didn't want to dwell on such things. All she needed for now, was Gray's arms around her, and her hand holding his. That was the only Christmas present she ever needed.


End file.
